ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Alma College men's basketball team returned from the holiday break and hit the skies heading towards Florida for a couple games. In the first of two games, the Scots came away with a marginal victory over Mount St. Mary College (NY) 77-54 on Friday, December 29th.
Alma opened up the scoring for the tournament as they competed in the first game against the Knights with Tyshaun converting on a three-point attempt giving Alma the first lead of the game. Within the first seven minutes of the game, the Scots were able to extend their lead into the double-digits as a deep ball from Paul Gadde put the Scots up 10, with no hesitation of slowing down. Back-to-back turnovers by the Knights helped the Scots go up by 15 points just several minutes later on layups from Nolan Boffman and Connor Riley. Alma would take their second largest lead of the first half with eight minutes remaining in the half as Donovan Collins would cash in from behind the arc to put the maroon and cream up by 20 heading down the stretch. Following several minutes of back and forth scoring by both teams, Alma would score in the final seconds of the half from a Boffman layup to head into the half up 21, with the score being 46-25.
Alma was able to pick up where they left off at in the second half and continue to extend their lead early as the Scots were finding success behind the arc and inside the pain at the rim. The Scot's lead was sustained throughout most of the second half as the Knights struggled to get the offense clicking leading to turnovers where the Scots found ways to capitalize on those mistakes. On two separate occasions, the Scots held Mount St Mary scoreless from the field for two minutes at a time, ultimately leading to the Scots lead throughout the final ten minutes of the game. Alma would take their largest lead of the game with just over 13 minutes remaining in the game and again tie that lead with just under six minutes remaining, leading by 26 and putting the Knights away in game one of their holiday trip. The Knights would score the final baskets of the game though Alma would hold the lead scoreboard, 77-54.
Leading the Scots and tallying 16 points was Riley followed by Walker with 12, along with Boffman and Meister each recording 11. Meister also recorded 11 rebounds to go along with his 11 points for his second double-double of the season. Meister also recorded four blocks in the game for the second time this season, and the third game with 4+. Riley would also lead the team in assists with five throughout the game and Boffman would continue to anticipate where his defenders would go next as he led the team with five steals on the night.
Alma will round out their trip with a game against Spalding University on Saturday, December 30th, on the campus of Eckerd College. Tipoff for the game is set for 1:00 PM.
